17-01-2026, 09:25 AM
(This post was last modified: 17-01-2026, 10:16 AM by JustAnotherTheory.)
Thanks a lot for that Stolfi. Those are great points.
Nonetheless, I have to note that a n00b scribe with n00b illustration skills could not, in my opinion, have written so incredibly consistently, i.e., without a single mistake on any pages. There are no strikethroughs, no erasures whatsoever.
Furthermore, following Lisa Fagin Davis' study, it appears that there were many scribes involved in the process. So what you're saying, is that we have a bunch of n00bs writing a highly complex manuscript without any mistakes, errors or strikethroughs, yet they achieve a level of consistency and mastery that one would expect from scribes wiith years of calligraphic experience (even though, like you say, they're not fully on par with professional scribes).
Also, what's up with the lack of training material? If a scribe (or scribes) is to write 200 pages of unknown script, there must be a trace of their practice. There must have been many vellums or trial-and-error, pen-testing, etc... Where is all that material? Did they burn all of it? Chuck them in the Rhine?
Nonetheless, I have to note that a n00b scribe with n00b illustration skills could not, in my opinion, have written so incredibly consistently, i.e., without a single mistake on any pages. There are no strikethroughs, no erasures whatsoever.
Furthermore, following Lisa Fagin Davis' study, it appears that there were many scribes involved in the process. So what you're saying, is that we have a bunch of n00bs writing a highly complex manuscript without any mistakes, errors or strikethroughs, yet they achieve a level of consistency and mastery that one would expect from scribes wiith years of calligraphic experience (even though, like you say, they're not fully on par with professional scribes).
Also, what's up with the lack of training material? If a scribe (or scribes) is to write 200 pages of unknown script, there must be a trace of their practice. There must have been many vellums or trial-and-error, pen-testing, etc... Where is all that material? Did they burn all of it? Chuck them in the Rhine?